Benchmarks continue firm trade in late morning session

After getting a gap-up start, benchmark equity indices continued to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals on strong buying by investors largely in tandem with a firm global trend. Sentiments got a boost with the report that India's current account deficit (CAD), which occurs when the value of imports and investments is larger than value of exports, is likely to narrow to 0.7 per cent of GDP in the current financial year from 1.3 per cent in FY'15, owing to lower commodity prices. Besides, appreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also supported the sentiments. Indian rupee recovered from a 30-month low by rising 13 paise to 68.34 against the dollar in early trade today on fresh selling of the US currency by banks and exporters. Some support also came with the report that Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has indicated that the Centre will announce a final roadmap for rationalising corporate tax exemptions in the Union Budget 2016-17. However, gains remained capped on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 560 crore on February 17, 2016.

On the global front, Asian stocks rallied on Thursday as crude oil prices extended gains on hopes that big producers will cap production, improving investors' appetite for riskier assets. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.9 percent, shrugging off bigger-than-expected declines in exports and imports in January, while China stocks were firmer, as investors expect Beijing to unveil fresh stimulus to support the slowing economy. Sentiment was also buoyed by a rise on Wall Street, where U.S. shares advanced for the third straight day, helped by some recovery in oil prices and encouraging economic data. Back home, all BSE sectoral indices were trading in the green. Among them, Capital Goods index gained the most by 2.80 per cent, followed by Metal 1.95 per cent, Oil & Gas 1.90 per cent and PSU 1.64 per cent. In scrip specific development, Shares of Surya Roshni have surged after the company received an order for supply of LED bulbs and street lights for various states. Furthermore, Cipla has gained after the company closed the transaction to acquire two US-based companies, InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2086 stocks traded, 1566 stocks advanced, while 439 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23667.21, up by 285.34 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 23536.47 and 23727.12. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.93%, while Small cap index up by 1.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.80%, Metal up by 1.95%, Oil & Gas up by 1.90%, PSU up by 1.64% and FMCG up by 1.29%, while there were no losers on BSE sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 5.05%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.80%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.09%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.70% and ICICI Bank up by 2.49%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.88%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.85%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.50%, HDFC down by 0.43% and GAIL India down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, reflecting changes in global fuel prices, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have slashed price of petrol by 32 paise per litre and have hiked diesel rates by 28 paise a litre. The new rates are effective from midnight February 17 / February 18. Following the revision, the price of petrol in the National Capital will be Rs 59.63 per litre as against Rs 59.95 a litre currently while diesel will be priced at Rs 44.96 per litre as compared to Rs 44.68 currently.

This is the sixth straight reduction in price of petrol on softening international rates. But in case of diesel, the hike snapped a three-month declining trend. In the last revision on February 1, the price of petrol was cut by 4 paise a litre while that of diesel was lowered by 3 paise a litre after the government raised excise duty to take away most of the benefit arising from fall in international oil prices.

PSU oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp revise petrol and diesel prices on 1st and 16th of every month based on average imported cost and rupee-dollar exchange rates in the previous fortnight. The revision was due on February 16 but the retailers choose to defer the revision.

The oil companies have said that the movement of prices in the international oil market and INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7193.80, up by 85.35 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 7175.30 and 7211.80. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 5.93%, Cairn India up by 5.80%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.87%, ONGC up by 4.22% and Larsen & Toubro up by 4.14%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.27%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.10%, Idea Cellular down by 0.88%, HDFC down by 0.66% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.84%, Shanghai Composite up by 0.47%, KOSPI Index up by 1.01%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.57%, Taiwan Weighted up by 1.06%, Hang Seng up by 2.09% and Nikkei 225 was up by 2.82%.